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Stripped of key powers, and incapable of governing even when he had them, Mayor Rob Ford has turned to the only political process he understands – running for office.

Ford had promised to be first off the mark in this year’s mayoral race. And in keeping with that pledge he filed his nomination papers at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, the earliest moment a candidate could register for the Oct. 27 vote. But the first to enter this contest will likely prove to be the worst.

Ford’s excesses involving drugs and alcohol, as well as his utter incompetence, render him vulnerable at the polls. Two credible rivals, TTC chair Karen Stintz and former councillor David Soknacki, have already expressed their intention to run. And other high-profile challengers are expected, giving voters a welcome choice from across the political spectrum. One can only hope they choose wisely.

Toronto’s leadership should ideally go to a hardworking person capable of grasping the complex challenges facing Canada’s largest city and with the necessary vision to address them. It should go to someone who obeys the law, earns councillors’ respect, and who will build the city instead of embarrass it. In other words, leadership must not go to Rob Ford.

Yet Ford described himself a few months ago as “absolutely salivating” for an election. It’s remarkable how the worst mayor in Toronto’s history is so full of passionate intensity about seeking an office he is so hopelessly unfit to hold.

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Ford opened his campaign Thursday by listing his so-called accomplishments. But, in a testament to how little he has managed to achieve, much of what he said was simply not true. This includes Ford’s widely debunked claim of having saved $1 billion and false boasting about his attendance record. Not content with four years of fumbling, he wants more. Witness his maladroit new slogan: “Ford more years.”

This is a man who has confessed to buying illegal drugs while in office, smoking crack cocaine and later denying it in public, being out-of-control drunk, and driving under the influence of alcohol. Some of these outrages are criminal offences. But despite admitting all of that, Ford still declares himself “the best mayor that this city has ever had.”

He’s surely Toronto’s most ludicrous mayor, to the delight of late-night comics. But the prospect of “Ford more years” is no laughing matter. That’s why strong challengers should be encouraged to step forward.

City hall watchers are waiting, in particular, for a decision from two potential candidates — NDP Member of Parliament Olivia Chow and veteran politician and radio host John Tory.

Both have expressed some interest in the mayoralty. Indeed, Tory ran an admirable campaign for the office in 2003. Both are bright individuals with a strong social conscience and either would make a far better mayor than Ford. So would Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, who has also mulled entering the race.

It is an undertaking that shouldn’t be entered into lightly. No election in Canada takes longer — almost 300 days, starting on Thursday. No Canadian politician is directly elected by a larger number of people than Toronto’s mayor. There are scores of formal debates. And candidates with a serious chance of winning are expected to raise more than $1 million without the help of any municipal political party.

Once elected, the mayor’s chain of office isn’t easy to bear. Toronto is Canada’s sixth largest government. Its $9.6-billion budget is bigger than that of many provinces but its mayor has far less power than any premier. Directly controlling only one vote on Toronto city council — his or her own — a mayor must compromise and form coalitions to make substantive progress. Ford’s incompetence in this regard has left the city rudderless and adrift, even apart from his law-breaking and buffoonery.

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